


The Unexpected Christmas Gift

by AnaiyaRhayne



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Christmas Eve, Established Relationship, F/M, HEA, Light Angst, Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-02
Updated: 2020-12-02
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:42:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27838537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnaiyaRhayne/pseuds/AnaiyaRhayne
Summary: "Never, in the two years had she been married, did she ever think she would have to use her sanctuary, but after delivering her news to her husband this morning and his reaction - or lack thereof - she knew she had to get away for awhile."Hermione Malfoy gives her husband an early Christmas gift, but his reaction leaves a lot to be desired. Can they make up in time for Christmas?
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Lucius Malfoy
Comments: 4
Kudos: 37
Collections: Hermione’s Nook Kissmas





	The Unexpected Christmas Gift

**Author's Note:**

> Written for The Kissmas Fest for the Hermione's Nook page on Facebook :D

**~The Unexpected Christmas Gift~**

A light knocking on the door was all Hermione Malfoy heard through the pounding in her head. She didn’t know exactly how long she had been crying - sobbing - but a slow look out of the frost covered balcony windows told her that it was after sunset. She had been holed up in the guest room of the cottage since that morning. Never, in the two years had she been married, did she ever think she would have to use her sanctuary, but after delivering her news to her husband this morning and his reaction - or lack thereof - she knew she had to get away for awhile. 

As she continued to look out the window, she noticed the moonlight illuminating the freshly fallen snow on the balcony. Winter had always been her favorite time of year, but even the Christmas tree in the corner of the room wasn’t enough to raise her spirits. As the gentle twinkling of the fairy lights that decorated the tree flashed in her eyes, those same lights also caused the tears that streamed down her face to shimmer like diamonds. She had been ecstatic when she was finally able to convince Lucius to decorate the tree in her parents' antique ornaments and giggled in mirth when he grudgingly admitted that the tree looked better than it ever had in the past. 

She had silenced and warded the room that she was in with anti-portkey, anti-apparition, and anti-floo wards, making sure to include the ensuite, though she had not warded the rest of the house. So while she could hear everything happening outside of the room, no one could hear, or see, anything that happened inside of the room unless she gave express permission. She didn’t want anyone bothering her for the time being, including the house elves that she knew her husband sent to keep an eye on her. It wasn’t that she had anything against what they were ordered to do, she just didn’t want her husband to know her every move, especially after what happened that morning. 

“Hermione, love, please,” she heard her husband’s voice cracking through the thick oak door. “Please, love,  _ please _ let me in so that we can talk.”

_ No _ , she thought to herself viciously, knowing that it would be useless to shout at an empty room.  _ Your time to talk was this morning. Instead, you stood there in complete silence with that damned look on your face.  _

Hearing his voice sent her into another wave of tears. As much as she loved her husband, his lack of reaction had gutted her. Sure, they had gotten into arguments before that had led them to spending time apart before, but those arguments had always been resolved after a few hours of being able to calm down and think rationally. The twelve hours that she had now been at the cottage was the longest time they had been apart since their wedding. 

Hermione tuned out the voice of her husband and, after coming to a decision, turned to the house elf that was in the room with her. 

“Mipsy, tell my husband that I will meet with him in an hour in  _ that _ drawing room at the Manor,” Hermione instructed firmly. “He will know which one I’m referring to.” 

“Are-are you sure, Mistress?” Mipsy asked, wringing her hands in front of her, her eyes full of fear. She knew which room her mistress was referring to and it still scared her to go in there, even almost six years after the final battle.

“Yes, Mipsy, I’m entirely sure,” Hermione snapped. She took a breath and sighed before continuing. It wasn’t the elf’s fault that she was angry, after all. “I think it would do him some good to feel at least half the pain I’m feeling right now.”

“Yes, Mistress,” Mipsy replied quietly, popping out of the room.

“At least I hope he will,” Hermione muttered to herself, as she walked into the ensuite to bathe. She left the torches unlit, instead opting to leave the door open so that the lights on the Christmas tree could softly light the room. 

As the warm water flowed through her fingers, she blocked out any sounds coming from outside the room, including the sound of her husband’s voice that had now gone shrill, and instead let her mind wander back to the night he had asked her to become his wife. She tearfully smiled as she remembered how nervous he had been that night on their walk, and how his eyes were filled with hope that she would say yes - and fear that she would say no. She quickly put him out of his misery by saying yes as soon as he stopped speaking. After he slipped the ring on her finger, he had lifted her up and swung her in circles until they were dizzy. After setting her down as gently as he could, he kissed her so deeply that she hadn’t even noticed that he had apparated them into their bedroom. 

Her mind then turned to what had transpired that morning. She ignorantly thought that she was giving her husband the best Christmas he could have ever asked for. She herself had been stunned when the healer had confirmed her suspicions that very morning, though that shock quickly turned into a bubbling happiness as the news sank in.  _ “Are you sure?” _ She remembered asking the healer that same question at least half a dozen times.  _ “It’s the best Christmas present I’ve ever received!” _ She had exclaimed to the healer, and had rushed to the store to buy another Christmas gift for Lucius. 

A sudden small pop in the room drew her out of her thoughts.

“Master says he will meet you, but he implores that you meet him elsewhere,” Mipsy said, wringing her hands again. “He says he has not been in that room since  _ that _ night.”

“I will not,” Hermione lightly snapped. “If he wishes to speak with me, we shall do so there. Let him know that nothing will change my mind.”

“Yes, Mistress,” Mipsy replied sadly, knowing that it would be futile to try and change Hermione’s mind. 

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Forty-five minutes later, Hermione was standing in the middle of the bedroom in her most elegant robes, trying to regulate her breathing as much as she could before apparating to the main foyer of Malfoy Manor. A tight smile filled her face as she stopped to look around at the trees that they had decorated together. She let her eyes wander up the staircase that had even more lights and tinsel weaved through the posts of the handrail. Every third step held a small translucent sphere that was charmed to shine a soft light at night. She looked around in amazement at the wonder they had created before sighing and started walking.

She slowly made her way to her destination - the drawing room that she had been tortured in. She was relieved that the doors were firmly shut as she walked up, as that alone told her that her husband was waiting for her inside. She placed her hands on the outside of the door and, using every bit of courage that she had, she raised her head, opened the doors, and walked into the room. She froze in her tracks, however, when she saw the scene that greeted her. 

“Oh Lucius,” she breathed in despair, as a rogue tear slowly trekked its way down her cheek. Only then did it dawn on her that as angry as she had been at him that morning, she should never have asked him to meet her here. 

Lucius Malfoy was on his knees in the middle of the drawing room, in the exact spot that she had been tortured by his crazy sister-in-law, his chin on his chest. His shoulders were shaking in what she assumed were silent sobs. She slowly and silently walked up to him, feeling her heart break a little more with each step. She kneeled in front of him and gasped at the sight of tears endlessly falling down his cheeks. She mentally thrashed herself at the look of utter defeat on her husband’s face.

“Why here, Hermione?” he asked hollowly, causing her blood to run cold. Never before had she heard him sound so...broken. “Why here - in the  _ one _ place in this Manor that I wish everyday that I could  _ destroy _ ?”

“I wish I could give you an excuse, Lucius,” Hermione replied in remorse, as she placed her hands on his shoulders. “But I can’t. I was so angry this morning and wasn’t thinking when I told Mipsy to have you meet me here. I’m sorry, Lucius, so incredibly sorry for not thinking things through - and for leaving this morning as I did.”

Lucius’s head snapped up, his eyes full of fire. 

“Hermione, my love, you have absolutely  _ nothing _ to apologize for!” Lucius exclaimed in astonishment. “I should be the one apologizing for how I acted! What you said stunned me, yes, but not for the reasons you were probably thinking.”

“Then why?” Hermione asked, confused. “Why did you not say anything? Saying  _ something _ would have been better than saying absolutely  _ nothing _ !”

“Because I had been told by multiple healers that after being the victim of the Cruciatus Curse as many times as I have been, that I was sterile,” Lucius admitted, his cheeks pink in embarrassment. “As such, it never occurred to me that we should use the potion or the charm. When you told me that you were pregnant, I was stunned only because it proved that every single healer that I had seen had been wrong. I was stunned because I was overwhelmed with happiness and excitement. I  _ never _ meant for my prolonged silence to scare you into thinking that I didn’t want the baby - or you.”

“Oh Lucius,” she said again, though this time it was said in affection. “Please forgive me, my love.”

“As I said, you have nothing to apologize for,” Lucius smiled warmly, raising his hand to cup her cheek. He stood, then offered Hermione his hand to help her stand. He wrapped her in a tight embrace, taking care to only squeeze around her shoulders and the top of her torso. “But I have to ask, can we please leave this room and seal it - for good? I can’t stand to be in here any more than you can.”

“Of course, love,” Hermione murmured into his shoulder. “Take us to our room, please.”

In the short trip to their room, she could feel the tears that she had tried to hold back start falling down her cheeks. As she felt them land, she looked up into the molten silver eyes of her husband, and felt her entire body start tingling at the amount of love and pride she saw in them. A soft smile touched her face when Lucius cupped her face with his hands. 

“I know what we normally do when we argue,” he said softly, as he kissed the top of her head. “And I’m not saying that I don’t want to, but…” He kissed her gently on the lips before slowly leading her to the bed. “...but tonight, I just want to hold you close. I need to. Please, Hermione, my love, my life, can I just hold you tonight?”

“Of course, my light” Hermione replied softly, as the smile on her face grew. She squeaked in surprise when he scooped her up off the floor bridal style and gently placed her on the bed. He silently vanished her outer robe, leaving her in just her underthings. He then silently vanished his own robe, leaving himself in just his boxers and undershirt. He laid in the bed next to her, facing her, again brought his hand up to gently caress her face. 

“Hermione, I meant what I said when we wed,” Lucius began softly, trailing his fingers on her face. “I love you and will love through better and worse, and through any storms we may weather. I want for nothing, so long as I am able to come home to you at the end of the day.”

“Then...you are happy about this?” Hermione asked hopefully. “That I’m pregnant with your...with our children?”

“Children?” Lucius asked in bewilderment. 

_ Oops _ , Hermione thought to herself.  _ Maybe I shouldn’t have dropped that piece of news quite like that. _

“Yes, Lucius,  _ children _ ,” she smiled gently, before dropping the bombshell on him. “The healer said it was twins.”

“Twins…” Lucius gasped in utter delight, his eyes alight with pure, unadulterated joy. “Boys?” 

Hermione slowly shook her head in opposition, her smile increasing in size. 

“Girls?!” He exclaimed in shock.

“Identical twin girls,” Hermione whispered joyfully. “And they’re both healthy with extremely strong magical cores.”

“Is the healer sure...sure that they’re girls?” Lucius asked in earnest.

“Yes, why?” Hermione’s eyes were full of confusion. 

“Because there hasn’t been a female born in the Malfoy line in over four hundred years,” Lucius calmly explained. “And you’re now carrying two.”

“Oh! I didn’t know that,” Hermione replied. “I’ll take a look at the tapestry in the morning before Draco and Astoria arrive for Christmas dinner, but I have a hunch as to why. I know both you and Draco are only children. Was your father an only child?”   
  
“Yes,” Lucius answered thoughtfully. “As was my grandfather and his father. In fact, now that I think about it, there has only been one child born each generation in the Malfoy line for as long as I can remember.”

“You’ve also only married purebloods for several generations,” Hermione surmised. “And now that you’ve married a muggleborn, it stands to reason that whatever curse or hex was placed on your family line has now been broken.”

“I never thought about it like that, but I have a feeling that you’re right,” Lucius admitted. He scooted closer to Hermione on the bed. “For tonight, though, let’s put that theory on hold and get some rest.”

“Alright, Lucius,” Hermione agreed, hiding a yawn behind her hand. “I love you, Lucius Abraxas Malfoy.”

Lucius leaned down and pressed his lips gently against Hermione’s once, twice, and a third time before running his tongue against her lips, silently asking her permission to deepen the kiss, and his heart thrummed as she joyously opened her lips to him. He wrapped his hand around the back of her head and plunged his fingers through her hair, lightly tugging the curls and causing her to moan. They passionately kissed for a few minutes before he slowly pulled back to look her in the eyes.

“And I love you, Hermione Jean Malfoy,” he said softly, gently kissing her again before drawing her in a snug embrace. “And thank you, love, for the best Christmas present you could have ever given me - even though my initial reaction left much to be desired.”

As the fireplace crackled its unique lullaby, they fell asleep in each other’s arms. 


End file.
